Customizing GR-20 Patches

Workshop
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GR-20 Guitar Synthesizer
Customizing GR-20 Patches
© 2006 Roland Corporation U.S.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the
written permission of Roland Corporation U.S.
GR20WS02
About the Workshop Booklets
Roland’s GR-20 Guitar Synthesizer opens up spectacular new sonic
possibilities for the electric guitarist. With the included GK-3 Divided
Pickup installed, any six-string electric guitar can play the GR-20’s amazing
collection of synthesizer sounds and sampled real-world instruments. You
can also mix your guitar’s own sound with those in the GR-20 to create new
timbres that are all your own.
Each GR-20 Workshop Series booklet focuses on one GR-20 topic, and is
intended as a companion to the GR-20 Owner’s Manual.
This booklet requires GR-20 O.S. Version 2.00 or higher. You can download
the latest GR-20 O.S. for free from www.RolandUS.com.
Hot Links
Each Workshop booklet is meant to be read in order from beginning
to end. However, if we mention an upcoming section—and you see
this arrow—you can click the arrow to jump there immediately.
Editing a Patch
Each GR-20 patch characteristic you can edit is referred to as a
“parameter.” A parameter’s setting is referred to as its “value.”
When a patch has been edited—but not yet saved—a dot appears in the
lower right-hand corner of the GR-20 display.
About This Booklet
You can customize any GR-20 patch, changing its sound and/
or behavior to suit your needs and your playing style. In fact, editing
can transform a patch into something completely new and unique
altogether. This book explains how to edit a patch, and then save
it as your own User patch when you’re done. The GR-20 can hold up to 99
User patches.
Using the Patch-Editing Knobs
Understanding the Symbols in This Booklet
Throughout this booklet, you’ll come across information that deserves
special attention—that’s the reason it’s labeled with one of the following
symbols.
A note is something that adds information about the topic at hand.
The patch-editing knobs allow you to quickly make adjustments to the
current patch’s sound. Each knob becomes active when you turn it—
until you do, the corresponding patch parameter remains at its original,
programmed setting.
The ATTACK Knob
A tip offers suggestions for using the feature being discussed.
Warnings contain important information that can help you avoid
possible damage to your equipment, your data, or yourself.
You can turn the ATTACK knob clockwise to lengthen the amount of time
it takes for a patch’s notes to start sounding, thus softening their initial
impact. Turn ATTACK counter-clockwise to make the notes start more
abruptly. Return the knob to its center position to go back to the patch’s
pre-programmed attack time.
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Press the PATCH EDIT button so its indicator lights red. When PATCH
EDIT is lit, each PATCH EDIT parameter is identified by the white label
beneath its indicator.
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Press the PATCH EDIT button repeatedly to light the indicator for the
patch parameter you want to change. In the illustration above, the
RESO (for “Resonance”) parameter is selected.
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Turn the Number/Value dial to the right of the display to
choose the desired value for the selected parameter.
The DELAY/REVERB Knob
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You can add either of two effects to a GR-20 patch to give it that final bit of
polish: delay or reverb.
If you’d like, press PATCH EDIT to select another parameter for editing
and repeat Step 3.
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Press EXIT when you’re done.
The RELEASE Knob
Turn the RELEASE knob clockwise to lengthen the end of each note, so that
it rings a bit more when you stop playing it. Turn RELEASE counter-clockwise
to make the note end more abruptly. With the knob straight-up, notes end
as programmed in the patch.
A patch’s pre-programmed release times have a lot do with making its
notes sound the way they do. However, if you’d like the ending of a
patch’s notes to more closely follow the ending of the notes you play
on your guitar, turn RELEASE all the way counter-clockwise, to its E
FLW (for “Envelope Follower”) position.
•
•
Delay—makes each note repeat a number of times.
What the PATCH EDIT Controls Do
Reverb—adds an acoustic space around the patch’s notes to create the
illusion that they’ve been played in a real-world room.
Changing the Way a Patch Plays
To add:
•
delay to a patch—turn the DELAY/REVERB knob counter-clockwise. The
further you turn it, the more delay you add.
•
reverb to a patch—turn the DELAY/REVERB knob clockwise. The further
you turn it, the more reverb you add.
The Play Feel parameter allows you to set up a patch so it responds properly
to how loudly or softly you play your guitar. You can set Play Feel to:
•
1-4—These settings determine how closely the patch
mimics your playing volume. If you’re a very precise
player, you can have the volume of the patch’s notes
mirror exactly what you play by selecting a value of 1. If
your volume control is less consistent, choose a higher
value until the patch plays as you’d like it to.
•
nd for (“No Dynamics”)—This setting causes all of the
patch’s notes to play at the same fixed volume. This is the
setting to choose if you want the patch to completely
ignore volume differences between your picked notes.
•
St—for “Strum,” causes the patch to ignore softly played
notes, such as when you pull off of strings while changing
from one strummed chord to another.
The LEVEL Knob
To make the current patch louder, turn the LEVEL knob clockwise as desired.
To make is softer, turn LEVEL counter-clockwise. Set it straight up to leave
the patch’s volume as programmed.
Using the PATCH EDIT Controls
The GR-20’s PATCH EDIT controls allow you to change the sound of the
currently selected patch in several ways, and also let you change how it
responds to your playing. Here’s how to use the PATCH EDIT controls:
To learn about the pedal switch modes, see the Getting Started with
the GR-20 Workshop booklet.
The playability of a patch is also affected by the GR-20’s global
Sensitivity settings. If you haven’t set the GR-20’s Sensitivity yet, see
the Getting Started with the GR-20 Workshop booklet.
Changing the Sound of a Patch
The remaining PATCH EDIT parameters affect the patch’s sound. Each one
allows you to raise or lower the value of a pre-programmed setting to
taste. While explaining patch parameters in detail is beyond the scope of
this booklet, here’s a brief explanation of how each PATCH EDIT parameter
affect’s a patch’s sound.
•
FREQ (for “Frequency”)—This parameter adjust the brightness or warmth
of the patch by changing the cutoff frequency of its lowpass filter.
•
RESO (for “Resonance”)—Resonance sets the volume of the cutoff
frequency itself, giving the sound more of an edge with higher values,
and less of an edge with lower ones.
For the two PATCH EDIT parameters we’ve just explained, a value of 50
means that the original setting hasn’t been changed. Values below 50
adjust the original setting downward, while values above 50 raise it.
•
TRANSPOSE—This parameter allows you to set the patch so each note
plays higher or lower than the note you actually play on your guitar. A
value of 1 or 2 raises the note’s pitch by one or two octaves, respectively.
A value of -1 or -2 lowers the note’s pitch by one or two octaves,
respectively.
Setting Up the GLIDE Pedal
To set up the GLIDE pedal’s behavior for the current patch:
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Press the GLIDE TYPE button so its indicator lights.
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Turn the Number/Value dial to select the desired type of glide:
Select this value:
So that when you press GLIDE, your note:
u1
glides upward by a half-step, or “semitone.”
u2
glides upward by a whole step.
u3
glides upward by a perfect fourth.
u4
glides upward by a perfect fifth.
u5-u8
glides upward by an octave. u5 causes the
slowest glide, while higher values speed up the
glide time.
d1
glides downward by a half-step, or “semitone.”
d2
glides downward by a whole step.
d3
glides downward by a perfect fourth.
d4
glides downward by a perfect fifth.
d5-d8
glides downward by an octave. d5 causes the
slowest glide, while higher values speed up the
glide time.
V1-V4
plays with vibrato. Higher values make the
vibrato stronger.
Programming the Foot Switches and Expression Pedal
The GLIDE TYPE and HOLD TYPE Buttons
These two buttons allow you to set up the way the GLIDE and HOLD pedals
behave in Switch Mode 1.
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Press EXIT or GLIDE TYPE when you’re done.
Setting Up the HOLD Pedal
To set up the HOLD pedal’s behavior for the current patch:
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Press the HOLD TYPE button so its indicator lights.
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Turn the Number/Value dial to select what happens when the HOLD
pedal is pressed, as shown in the following table.
With this value:
Already playing notes are held. New notes:
H1
are also held. If you play a new note on a string
that has a note already being held, the new
note replaces the old one, so you can play held
melodies.
H2
aren’t held, and can’t be heard. This allows you
to switch to your guitar sound and play over the
GR-20’s held notes.
H3
aren’t held, though they do sound. This lets
you play over held notes with the same sound.
H4
are all held, without stopping any already held
notes. This lets you build up a big sound as you
would by playing a piano while holding down its
sustain pedal.
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As you play, you can manipulate the sound of a patch in a
variety of ways using the GR-20’s Expression pedal. To set up
the pedal’s behavior for the current patch:
Turn the Number/Value dial to select what happens when you rock the
Expression pedal forward and back:
With this value:
Push the pedal all the way forward:
Vo
to turn the patch’s volume up to its fullest
level, or rock the pedal back to lower it level—
this kind of dynamic control can make your
playing more expressive.
Fl
to raise the cutoff frequency of
lowpass filter, making the sound
return the cutoff frequency to
setting, rock the pedal all the way
b1
to raise the pitch of the patch’s notes by a
perfect fourth. Bring the pedal back to return
the patch to its original tuning.
b2
to raise the pitch of the patch’s notes by a
perfect fifth. Bring the pedal back to return the
patch to its original tuning.
b3
to raise the pitch of the patch’s notes by an
octave. Bring the pedal back to return the
patch to its original tuning.
b4
to lower the pitch of the patch’s notes by a
semitone. Bring the pedal back to return the
patch to its original tuning.
b5
to lower the pitch of the patch’s notes by a
whole step, or two semitones. Bring the pedal
back to return the patch to its original tuning.
b6
to lower the pitch of the patch’s notes by an
octave. Bring the pedal back to return the
patch to its original tuning.
EF
fully increase the value of an effect parameter
in the patch, if one has been programmed at
the factory to respond to the pedal. Push the
pedal all the way back to return the patch to
its original sound.
Press EXIT or HOLD TYPE when you’re done.
Programming the Expression Pedal
�
�
Press the EXP PEDAL button so its indicator lights.
�
the patch’s
brighter. To
its original
back.
Press EXIT or EXP PEDAL when you’re done.
Saving a Patch
The End
To save your customized patch as a new User patch, write the patch to a User
memory location. The following steps explain how to perform this important
operation.
We hope you’ve found this workshop helpful. Keep an eye out for other
GR-20 Workshop booklets for downloading at www.RolandUS.com.
Be sure to save any patch edits you want to keep. Otherwise, if you
select another patch—or turn off the GR-20—your edits are discarded.
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Press the WRITE button—the display flashes to show you the first User
memory location, which is automatically selected as the location for
your new patch.
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Turn the Number/Value dial to choose the location in which you’d like
to store your patch.
Be careful to select a location that doesn’t already contain a patch you
want to keep, since writing a new patch to that location permanently
erases any patch that’s already there.
If you’d like to cancel the patch-writing procedure, you can press the
EXIT button.
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Once you’ve selected the desired location, press the WRITE button
again to finish saving the patch.
As the GR-20 writes the patch into User memory, a dot
flashes in the lower right-hand corner of the display.
Be sure not to turn off the GR-20 until the dot stops
flashing to indicate that the GR-20 has finished storing
the patch.
Flashing dot